From the Governor

I just returned from the ACP annual meeting in New Orleans, and am rejuvenated and excited again about the ACP!! We had several attendees from our chapter. The national numbers tell me that 37 WV members were registered! I did not have the opportunity to meet up with many of you, but do have some pictures to share of those that I did see.

Our residents did a fabulous job with the jeopardy competition. They won round one; I have the scoreboard picture to prove it!! They fought well during round 2, but were defeated by Texas and Arizona. Our team was from WVU Charleston Division, and their names are Moniba Nazeef, MD, Asif Khan, MD, Muhammad Omer Jamil, MD, and Naga Raja, MD. They were supported by their coach Nicholas Young, MD. We are very proud of them!!

The Jeopardy Team

In addition, we had several Medical Student and Associate Member poster presentations:

During commencement, I had the pleasure of marching with Dr. Bairava Kuppuswamy, a young physician hospitalist from Parkersburg. I was so impressed with the ceremony and all the visiting dignitaries from internal medicine organizations around the world. For those who have never attended this ceremony, it is really something worth seeing. Also, for all you members who have not yet become fellows, the ceremony alone is worth completing the forms.

Lastly, the educational component of the meeting was just top notch. I was amazed by all the opportunity afforded at this meeting.
Next year, I hope to see our numbers at both the local and national meetings increase. We will be planning a WV Reception for next year’s meeting in San Francisco. Mark your calendars now.

News from the Board of Governors

I attended the BOG meeting on April 17 and 18 in New Orleans just preceding the ACP Annual Meeting. The discussions were again very interesting. The most significant presentation in my opinion came from the ABIM. We heard of changes to the maintenance of certification process that will be released later this year. As I understand it, one of the most important changes will be that the cycle length for MOC will change from a 10 year cycle to a 5 year cycle, however, the examination will stay at 10 years. They also discussed a new concept to me, maintenance of licensure, or MOL. Those of you who are more politically attuned to state issues may already be familiar with this term/concept. It will be interesting to see how these national certification changes impact state licensing processes. More to come on that.

It was also a pleasure to discover that Dr. Mary Ann Antonelli is the Governor Elect-designee from Hawaii. Many of you will remember Mary Ann from her days on faculty in Morgantown as a Rheumatologist.

West Virginia Chapter Annual Meeting

I am pleased to tell you that the annual meeting committee, chaired this year by Dr. Eva Patton-Tackett from Marshall, is well into planning a great meeting this fall at Stonewall Jackson Resort, Oct 18-20, 2012. Please keep that date reserved and plan on attending. Our keynote speaker is Shalini Chandra, MD, MS, from Johns Hopkins University Division of Hospital Medicine who will be speaking on “How to Prevent Hospital Re-admissions”.

Leadership Day

Cathy Funk, MD will be attending this year’s Leadership Day in Washington, DC, June 6-7 to represent our chapter. We also have a resident from Marshall, Dr. Shelly Nickles, who will be attending. We are excited to have representation at this year's event and look forward to the feedback on their return.

Although the deadline for registering is soon, there is still time. Please respond to Karen Frazier or myself, quickly if you would like to attend. Below is a link to obtain some additional information about Leadership Day.